Shaping science — Shaping democracy

pp. 136-150

in: Thomas Klikauer, Managerialism, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

Abstract

In the orbit of Managerialism, there is virtually no society left that remains unaffected by its authoritarian ideology. The substance of the various alternatives for post-managerial living no longer constitutes alternative modes of life. What society is left with are the anti-alternative models and techniques of managerial manipulation and control. Everyday language has been colonised by Managerialism readily reflecting its ideology so that language itself has become an instrument of control even where it does not transmit direct orders but information. It demands obedience and choice, submission and freedom. While in the critical mind these represent contradictions that cancel each other out, for Managerialism they are unities. Managerialism's language controls by reducing linguistic forms and symbols of reflection, abstraction, development, critique, Adorno's Mündikeit, and contradiction. It substitutes critical concepts with idyllic, romantic, material, comfortable, and calming images and denies, negates, and absorbs transcendent vocabularies. It does not search for real truth but establishes and imposes its version of truth while simultaneously declaring alternatives as falsehoods. But this kind of language use is not pure linguistic terrorism. It seems unwarranted to assume that all recipients believe or are made to believe what they are being told.